A perfect match - Woman donates kidney to restore her fiance’s health

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Tuesday, April 8, 2008  11:17 P.M.
2:28 AM

A perfect match
Woman donates kidney to restore her fiance’s health

DAWN ZERA Times Leader Correspondent

Larksville resident Raymond Gimble, 43, knows he is one of the lucky ones.

He got an organ.

Diagnosed with diabetes at age 12, Gimble’s kidney function was affected by the disease and began to cease about two years ago; he ended up on dialysis.

In November, Gimble, employed as a garment factory foreman at the State Correctional Institute, Dallas, had to leave his job to get dialysis four hours at a time, three days a week. The process was exhausting, and at the dialysis center he became aware of the possibility of an uncertain future.

“Some people at dialysis have been there for years, waiting for donors, and in the four months I was there I saw people getting sicker. I feel sorry for those people for what they have to go through,” Gimble said.

Gimble won’t have to go to dialysis any more, because he received a kidney.

On March 13, his fianc�e Florence Petros, 48, donated one of her kidneys to the man she has known as a friend for a long time, but who became her boyfriend only three years ago.

After Gimble’s father had offered a kidney but was rejected as a donor by medical professionals, Petros asked to be considered.

“Ray started getting sicker and sicker, and I said, ‘check me.’ I have always had ‘donor’ listed on my driver’s license. I believe in it. Most people have two kidneys, and you only need one,” Petros said.

And as it turned out, on a scale of one to six, with six being the best match, Petros measured as a great donor for Gimble.

Petros went through extensive screening with Geisinger Hospital System medical professionals. While Geisinger Wyoming Valley is preparing to do live donor kidney transplants under the direction of primary transplant surgeon Dr. Manish Gupta (the hospital already has hosted transplants using kidneys from the deceased), Gimble decided not to wait. Within two weeks of Petros being identified as a good match, and after thorough testing, the surgery was set up at Geisinger’s Danville location, with follow-ups at the Wyoming Valley location.

Gimble and Petros were in surgery for four hours on March 13, with Gimble remaining in the hospital five days after and donor Petros for two days.

Gimble said his energy level is up and he is walking his dog twice daily. Petros’ recovery has been a little slower as her healthy body adapts, but she cheerfully says she’s able to do laundry and feels she will be at 100 percent soon.

“It’s not hard to give a kidney. The hardest part is going through all the testing,” Petros said. “There are cures for these people if people would donate. All someone has to do is just see these people sitting there in dialysis, the old, the young, all kinds of people.”

The surgery is made even easier for donors because there is no out-of-pocket insurance co-pay or hospital cost charged to the donor. Gimble and Petros, a waitress, did have to prepare financially for the lost work time.

“I was ready. Everyone kept saying ‘Are you scared?’ I wasn’t scared. He’s 43 – life on dialysis isn’t easy. You can’t go anywhere,” Petros said. “God watched over us. We had a lot of people praying for us.”

For more information on how to donate an organ, visit the Web site www.donatelife-pa.org or call1-877-DONORPA.
MORE ABOUT ORGAN DONATION

• In Pennsylvania, the organ transplant waiting list includes more than 6,500 people.

• One organ, tissue and eye donor may save up to eight lives and help more than 50 people.

• The greatest need is for kidney transplants, with more than 57,000 people on the waiting list. Next in demand is liver, followed by lungs and heart.

• In the United States, 85 percent of the population supports organ donation. In Pennsylvania, only 42 percent have placed the organ donor designation on their driver’s license, learner’s permit, or state identification card. Fewer still have discussed the issue with their families.

• There are no costs to a person’s family for donation, and donation from a deceased person will not interfere with customary funeral plans. A traditional viewing and open casket is possible after donation.

• The general age limit for tissue and eye donation is 80.

• Donors can specify what organs they want to donate.

• Federal law prohibits buying and selling organs in the U.S. An organ donation cannot be sold.

• Pennsylvanians can register as organ donors online, rather than having to go to driver license centers, at www.donatelife-pa.org.

Source: Donate for Life

“God watched over us. We had a lot of people praying for us.”
Florence Petros

http://www.timesleader.com/living/20080408_08_organ_dz_hea_ART.html